Welcome to my quick primer on the Christian traditions of the world of Holy Wars (quite possibly distinctly different in some ways from what you may know as Christianity). Once again, as was said in the intro - this is a game. If I'm offending you in any way (Lord knows, this is all probably sacreligious and I'm more than likely bound for the hot place anyways), there's a simple solution to your problem.

Turn around and leave. Don't bother e-mailing me about how God or Allah or Bill down the street frown upon my frivilous use of a 'serious' religion in a game and how it'll all condem me to hell. I know what will condem me to hell - everything (did I mention that the Nun's were in charge of the education system and did a great deal of the teaching where I grew up?). You won't save me from damnation if that's where I'm headed so don't bother. This is a game. My game. For fun. Fun!

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Fun!!!

Now, with that rant out of my system, let me get down to business:

(By the by, the Nun's weren't actually that bad, no matter how I joke about it - in case anyones wondering. A bit heavy handed an thick on the Catholic ideals thing, but most were quite nice and good teachers. I just wanted to say that, in case any nuns are reading this, to let them know that I appreciate what they brought to the education system)

Most of the basics of Christianity in this world hold true in the lands of the Holy Wars. Jesus, the Son of God (despite his best efforts to avoid being called that), was God made flesh, sent to save the world from sin, to repeal the Mosaic Law (which was really just a teaser from God to prove to us that we couldn't adhere to any sort of divine code and thus required a savior to save us from damnation) and blah blah blah. However, in this world, after Jesus died and was ressurected, the Christian church took a little detour. Instead of splintering over trivial issues as happened in our reality, the (Christian) world came to understand that true appreciation of God was impossible for a mortal - after all, how could we possible understand the glory of our creator. Thus, to better serve God, people began following Archangels, the divine beings who interceded between the tri-fold godhead (the Trinity, for those who are non-Christian, is a central mystery to Western Christianity, and states that God is one person (God) and three people (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost (or spirit)) all at the same time. Kinda like how light is a wave and a particle...). Thought the archangels were not 'worshipped' per se, they were seen as the ideals by which one could raise themselves to higher levels and thus serve god with more fervor - for example, those who followed the Archangel Micheal believed in a very violent form of Christianity in which impurity was to be washed away from the earth with the blood of the corrupt, while those who followed Raphael believed that impurity must be healed, not killed, and that corruption was a temporary state if treated properly.

This led to a lot of arguments. Thus, to ensure the church stayed together, they institued an eighth class of angel church - the temple of Metatron. Metatron, a divine entity often identified as being the right hand of the tri-fold Godhead, was set aside for those clerics who had risen to the top of their angels order. The Metronians were to assume command of the church, and regulated the other churches under them quite well.

At least, this worked until the day the world shook. Although it is unknown what exactly happened, some human in the ural mountains (or possibly west of there) unleashed hell on earth. Although the archangel Uriel controls the keys to the gates of heaven and hell, there are several widely known ways to circumvent this (one of which is to repeat a demon's true name three times). Though these circumventions are usually somewhat weak, this human devised a way to punch through the Stygian plane altogether and enter into Hell. When he did, eleven demons from the abyss as well as countless numbers of their twisted servants streamed through. Uriel arrived too late to stop the elven and their comrades, he managed to drive back Hasatan (the Adversary) and seal the gates.

This was a small victory. The damage was done. Lucifer took command of the legions of hell and began the holy wars (this was in the year 1001). God, to counter the threat posed by Lucifer, sent his archangels forth to earth, to take personal control of the battle. Each descended from on high to their order, where they began the to move against the enemy. Metatron too descended, to ensure that the archangels did not squabble against each other (like human clerics tended too, as although all archangels were devoted to the Lord, each was devoted in different, and sometimes contradictory ways).

Much of this historic detail is recorded in the timeline. Some basic things to remember about religion however are:

1. You worship the Lord. This is almost universal (unless you are elvish, and then you worship Coreollan). Those who don't worship the Lord (or Coreollan) are the agents of the adversary. This however, has a lot of leeway - many tribes in Germania and Gallia have identified God as the good in nature, and although they are technically Christian they are not what we would consider today to be Christian.

2. Clerics - you worship the Lord. Not the angels that you follow. When you pray for spells you pray to God in the name of your patron angel. When you bless someone it is in the name of the Lord with thanks to the strength of your patron angel. Your patron angel is your gateway to the Lord, not a god unto themselves. Be wary of this - if you forget your divine blessings may fail you.

3. You live on earth on the 'mortal' plane (so named because, well, mortals live there). When you die your spirit (or essence, or soul, or chakra, or spark) goes to heaven or hell, which are individual planes unto themselves. The mechanics of all this are unknown to mortals - no mortal has been to heaven or hell and returned (at least with the memories of heaven or hell) and the archangels on earth don't care to talk about it. However, it is there.

4. Goblinkin are unredeemable agents of the adversary. Humans are not. Goblins can be killed on sight. Humans, on the other hand....

5. The church *is* headed up by a Pope, who is the head of the Metronian order. He is advised by the seven heads of the archangel orders (who are all Cardinals). The Pope is seen as presiding over spiritual matters, while Kings handle worldly stuff. This often results in squabbling. Your allegiance as a Christian is to the Pope.

6. The Bible is your... uhh... Bible. All clerics should carry a copy of th Bible. However, this, like the particulars of your faith in God, has a lot of leeway. Your book must contain the Tenach, at least the four canonical Gospels, the Acts and the Book of Revelations. Other books can vary as the cleric pleases.

7. The archangels, although great and glorious leaders, are yet reclusive, even as they live among mortals. Although the angels are very powerful, their powers are kept in check by the forces of the adversary. They keep their own counsels and act more as esteemed advisors over their orders rather than direct leaders. And they are nearly never straightforward - for they have recieved orders to aide mankind, not to lead it.

8. Religion is never, ever straightforward.